MOQ is short for Minimum Order Quantity.
This is the minimum number of units you must purchase from a supplier / manufacturer.
For example, if you want to purchase 500 Garlic Presses from a manufacturer on Alibaba. He might respond that this is impossible since his MOQ is 1000 units.
Once you have found your product to sell on Amazon, it is time to start contacting manufacturers. You will soon find out that most manufacturers will only manufacture your product if you order X number of units, as it is unprofitable for them to sell only a small amount to each customer.
How to lower MOQ?
Pay for the mold cost
There are a couple of ways to avoid a high MOQ. One of the main reasons a manufacturer sets a high MOQ is to recoup the mould cost for your product.
A mold is a unique design used to manufacture your product. The manufacturer incurs a fixed cost for this, and to recoup this, he sets the minimum order quantity at X level.
A solution for this is to offer to pay the mould cost yourself if you can order a lower quantity. This way, you are taking away the supplier’s risk that he will not recoup his fixed cost for the mold while still being able to order a lower quantity.
Pretending to be a huge business
I feel like everyone uses this method, so all the manufacturers will know about it. But I feel like this could still work in some cases. When you are in contact with a possible manufacturer, pretend to be a huge business willing to place huge orders in the future. However, in order to test the quality of their product, you will need to start with a small order that is below their MOQ.
The manufacturer might lower their MOQ for you, hoping your “huge business” will place a larger order.
Throw around lots of corporate words and stuff like, “Mike, from accounting, will send you an email regarding the invoice.” Anything to convince them you are not a one-man business being run from home.
Find another supplier
Honestly, I have found that the MOQ for the same product can vary greatly between suppliers. Sometimes, I get the response that they can not sell me their product as their MOQ is 5000 units, while I find other suppliers who can manufacture my product and only request an MOQ of 1000 units. It is always best to contact as many suppliers as possible. I discuss this in detail in my manufacturing guide.